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Many facilities hold complementary alumni programs for patients who are finished with treatment. These programs help keep patients engaged with their treatment and connected with others who are fighting addiction.
These programs are important for both patients—and your facility. They offer numerous benefits to help improve outcomes—and even your revenue.
Benefits of Alumni Programs for Patients
Alumni programs give patients an important point of contact at your facility, someone they can rely on for continued support as they maintain their sobriety. Your alumni coordinator provides a safety net that can help prevent relapses and improve patient outcomes. It also gives you an opportunity to provide your patients with more that will aid in their sobriety.
Alumni programs help patients feel connected to others experiencing the same struggles. This sense of community can be powerful and help patients feel that there are others who can relate to their struggles and who are cheering for their success. This community can also aid them in returning to their former life in a safe, sober way.
Aftercare programs also provide alumni with an opportunity to participate in sober, social activities. Your alumni group may meet in different locations for substance-free parties or outings that help show alumni the path to a normal life that doesn’t revolve around substances. This continued community support and connection to your facility can really make a difference in long term sobriety.
Benefits of Alumni Programs for Your Facility
Your facility can also benefit from hosting an alumni program. Once patients leave your inpatient or outpatient program, it can be difficult to track their progress. An alumni group gives a greater ability to track—and improve—long-term patient outcomes. You can track quality-of-life measures such as:
Do your alumni have jobs?
Do your alumni have reliable housing?
Are your alumni avoiding incarceration?
These quality of life measures, in addition to long-term sobriety statistics, help paint a picture of an effective treatment center. By sharing your outcomes and other information about alumni rehab with payors, you may be able to negotiate better reimbursement rates in the future, improving your revenue in the long-term. After all, your program works and you can prove it.
Alumni groups can also give you an immediate opportunity to bill the insurance company for more services. If your alumni group is hosted by a therapist, you may be able to bill payors for a group therapy session. This can boost your revenue in the short-term while providing patients with a vital service.
At Datapro, we are consistently looking for ways our clients can add additional billing and increase revenue while doing right by their patients. We can help you develop billable alumni groups and track your patient outcomes to boost your revenue.
Schedule a complimentary 15-minute consultation with Datapro experts by calling 805-579-3537 or contacting us online.